IaC & Tests

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Workstation preparation
  • Install Powershell and modules
    • Powershell 6
      • Manual installation
      • Package Manager
        • macOS
        • Ubuntu
        • Windows
    • Modules
  • Visual Studio Code
    • Extensions installation
• Create the first tests
  • Pester, Gherkin and testing
  • Let’s play
• Azure Devops
  • Azure Devops CLI
  • Configure the repo locally
  • Create the pipeline
  • Create the Service Endpoint for Azure RM Subscription
  • Configure the pipeline
• Working with the tests
  • Adding some tests

Overview

I was looking for the easiest way to test Azure infrastructure. I take a look into great project like Molecule, Terratest and so on. Even if they are very cool and powerful, I wanted to find something easier (or lazier).

I already use pester for testing purpose, so I manage to use pester for testing Azure infrastructure, using the Gherkin syntax and I’ll show you, how you can do that.

Workstation preparation

I work on 3 kind of platform : macOs, Ubuntu and Windows 10, and my tests are working on all of them.

You will need to install :

1. PowerShell (6.2.3 at least)
   1. Powershell Az module
   2. Pester (at least 4.9)
2. VS Code
   1. Gherkin plugin
   2. PowerShell

Install Powershell and modules

Powershell 6

Manual installation

First, download the suitable version of powershell for your system on GitHub. Yes, if you miss it, that is now fully open source.
https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases

Package Manager

macOS

If you use macOs, brew can manage it for you:

brew install powershell

Ubuntu

On Ubuntu, snap can do the job also :

sudo snap install powershell --classic

Windows

On Windows, Chocolatey is working well:

choco install pwsh

Modules

Installing module in PowerShell is quite easy. You only need to type the following :

Install-PackageProvider Nuget -ForceBootstrap -Force
Set-PSRepository -Name PSGallery -InstallationPolicy Trusted
Update-Module
Install-Module -Name Pester -Force -SkipPublisherCheck
Install-Module -Name Az -force

Some command may not be useful on your setup, but this way ensure that you have the latest version of each module

Visual Studio Code

You can install Vs Code manually or by using a Package Manager using choco, snap or brew. I’ll not detail this part.

Extensions installation

To install the extension, you can use the GUI of Vs Code or the cmdline. For Gui, take a look at the doc here.

For the cmdline :

code --install-extension alexkrechik.cucumberautocomplete
code --install-extension ms-vscode.powershell

on Linux and macOs, you’ll need to add the following in your profile, adapt the path to Vs Code to yours :

bash:

cat << EOF >> ~/.bash_profile
# Add Visual Studio Code (code)
export PATH="\$PATH:/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin"
EOF

zsh:

cat << EOF >> ~/.zsh_profile
# Add Visual Studio Code (code)
export PATH="\$PATH:/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin"
EOF

Create the first tests

Pester, Gherkin and testing

First of all, you will need some detail on Pester, Gherkin and testing like I think they can be useful and easy as possible.

Pester, is a world community framework for testing in Powershell. So, if you know a bit in PowerShell, you won’t be lost at all. This module add some new function to do the magic of testing.

Gherkin, is a syntax for BDD (Behavior-Driven Development) testing. To explain a bit, for me, in our infrastructure testing purpose, is to have some human readable scenario to show to management/customers.

Fortunately, Pester support the Gherkin syntax using the Invoke-Gherkin cmdlet and do a bit of magic for us.

Let’s play

We need to create our workspace, so do it like that (Using PowerShell’s Shell):

Set-Location ~
New-Item ./Documents/GherkinTests -type Directory
code ./Documents/GherkinTests

Create few file :

• etienne_exo.feature <— This is the Gherkin File
• etienne_exo.steps.ps1 <— This is our magic

In the Feature File write the following :

# GherkinTests/etienne_exo.feature
Feature: Validate Azure Deployment

  Scenario: We should have some subscriptions to work
    Given we list the subscriptions using powershell
    Then we should be able to have at least one

# GherkinTests/etienne_exo.steps.ps1
Given "we list the subscriptions using powershell"{
  Get-AzSubscription | Should -not -throw
}

Then "we should be able to have at least one" {
  (Get-AzSubscription).Count | Should -Not -BeNullOrEmpty
}

Now, let’s run that to check if the test are working or not :

❯ Invoke-Gherkin
Pester v4.10.0
Executing all tests in '/home/etienne/Documents/GherkinTests'

Feature: Validate Azure Deployment

  Scenario: We should have some subscriptions to work
    [+] Given we list the subscriptions using powershell 6.17s
    [+] Then we should be able to have at least one 5.01s
Tests completed in 11.39s
Tests Passed: 2, Failed: 0, Skipped: 0, Pending: 0, Inconclusive: 0

Ok, tests are working, and we have something to show to customers/management.

Wait, can’t we do nothing better ? Are we lazy enough ? Of course, not, let’s wait for the next blog part.

Azure Devops

Azure Devops CLI

Get a Personal Access Token here : https://dev.azure.com/<YourOrganisation>/_usersSettings/tokens

az extension add --name azure-devops
az devops login
# paste your PAT
az login
# with the sam
az account set -s <YOUR SUB>
az devops configure --defaults 'organization=https://dev.azure.com/etiennedeneuve'
az devops project create --name GherkinTest
# Store the repo git url to configure the repo locally, you will need a SSH Key for that.
$repo=$(az repos list --project GherkinTest --query [].sshUrl -o tsv)

Configure the repo locally

cd ~/GherkinTest
git init
git remote add origin $repo
git add .
git commit -m 'inital commit'
git push origin master

Create the pipeline

az pipelines create --name "GherkinTest"

Answer the questions like :

This command is in preview. It may be changed/removed in a future release.
Which template do you want to use for this pipeline?
 [1] Starter pipeline
 [2] Android
 [3] Ant
 [4] ASP.NET
 [5] ASP.NET Core
 [6] .NET Core Function App to Windows on Azure
 [7] ASP.NET Core (.NET Framework)
Please enter a choice [Default choice(1)]: Starter pipeline

Do you want to view/edit the template yaml before proceeding?
Please enter a choice [Default choice(1)]: Continue with generated yaml

Files to be added to your repository (1)
1) azure-pipelines.yml

How do you want to commit the files to the repository?
Please enter a choice [Default choice(1)]: Create a new branch for this commit and start a pull request.

Enter new branch name to create: features/cicd
Checking in file azure-pipelines.yml in the Azure repo c279436a-e2f4-4e01-8f41-a30f660f7515
Created a Pull Request - https://dev.azure.com/etiennedeneuve/6874897d-6d09-412e-b73b-4b2966c04b64/_apis/git/repositories/c279436a-e2f4-4e01-8f41-a30f660f7515/pullRequests/1
Successfully created a pipeline with Name: GherkinTest, Id: 25.
{
  "agentSpecification": null,
  "buildNumber": "20200214.1",
  "buildNumberRevision": 1,
  "controller": null
}

Create the Service Endpoint for Azure RM Subscription

First we need to create a SPN in Azure AD :

az ad sp create-for-rbac --name AzureDevops
Changing "AzureDevops" to a valid URI of "http://AzureDevops", which is the required format used for service principal names
Creating a role assignment under the scope of "/subscriptions/1417c648-XXXX"

{
  "appId": "41176fe8-XXXXX",
  "displayName": "AzureDevops",
  "name": "http://AzureDevops",
  "password": "7eaeb380-XXXXX",
  "tenant": "06329ce4-XXXX"
}

Take note of the appId, Name, Password and Tenant.

Now, list your subscriptions :

az account show
{
  "environmentName": "AzureCloud",
  "id": "1417c648-XXXXX",
  "isDefault": true,
  "name": "Microsoft XXXX",
  "state": "Enabled",
  "tenantId": "06329ce4-XXXX",
  "user": {
    "name": "etienne@deneuve.xyz",
    "type": "user"
  }
}

Take note of the Id, Name, and Tenant.

And then create the service endpoint in Azure DevOps :

 az devops service-endpoint azurerm create --name 'Azure MVP' `
>> --azure-rm-tenant-id "YourTenantId" `
>>     --azure-rm-service-principal-id "AppID" `
>>     --azure-rm-subscription-id "SubID" `
>>     --azure-rm-subscription-name "Name of the Sub"
Azure RM service principal key: "Password"
Confirm Azure RM service principal key: "Password"
{
  "administratorsGroup": null,
   < shortened >
  "type": "azurerm",
  "url": "https://management.azure.com/"
}

Configure the pipeline

Now, checkout to the newly created branch :

# change branch
git checkout features/cicd
# get latests info from remote
git pull
# open code in the current folder
code .

Add the following snippet into azure-pipelines.yml :

# ./azure-pipelines.yml
# Starter pipeline
# Start with a minimal pipeline that you can customize to build and deploy your code.
# Add steps that build, run tests, deploy, and more:
# https://aka.ms/yaml

trigger:
- master

pool:
  vmImage: 'windows-latest'

steps:
- task: AzurePowerShell@5
  inputs:
    azurePowerShellVersion: LatestVersion
    azureSubscription: 'Azure MVP'
    Inline: |
      Install-Module -Name Pester -Force
    ScriptType: InlineScript
    pwsh: true
    workingDirectory: $(Build.Repository.LocalPath)
  displayName: 'Install Pester'

- task: AzurePowerShell@5
  inputs:
    azurePowerShellVersion: LatestVersion
    azureSubscription: 'Azure MVP'
    Inline: |
      Invoke-Gherkin -OutputFile result.xml -OutputFormat NUnitXml
    ScriptType: InlineScript
    pwsh: true
    workingDirectory: $(Build.Repository.LocalPath)
  displayName: 'Launch Test'

- task: PublishTestResults@2
  inputs:
    buildConfiguration: Azure
    buildPlatform: Azure
    publishRunAttachments: true
    testResultsFiles: result.xml
    testResultsFormat: NUnit
    testRunTitle: ValidateAzure

Commit the file :

git add azure-pipelines.yaml
git commit -m 'feat: add cicd for tests'
git push origin features/cicd

Go in your Azure Devops project, select your new pipeline, and go in Tests, you should have something like my public repo :

Azure Devops

Et Voila!

Working with the tests

Now, if we want to deploy something in our new infra, we will need to write the tests before deploying the resources themselves.

Adding some tests

In this scenario, we want to deploy a VM, in our subscription. Let’s do a quick list of what we should have after a successful deployment :

• 1 Subscription
• 1 Resource Group
• 1 Virtual Network
• 1 Subnet
• 1 Network Interface
• 1 Disk
• 1 VM
• Optionally: 1 Public IP

With our list, we can now write the test we want, in the feature file:

# GherkinTests/etienne_exo.feature
Feature: Validate Azure Deployment

  Scenario: Someone start a new vm deployment
    Given someone start a new vm deployment in the subscription
    When the deployment is completed we should have 1 resource group
    Then we should have 1 Virtual Network
    And 1 Subnet
    And 1 Network interface
    And 1 Disk
    And 1 VM
    And 1 Public IP

Now, in our steps.ps1 file we will update it:

# GherkinTests/etienne_exo.steps.ps1
Given "someone start a new vm deployment in the subscription"{
  Get-AzSubscription | Should -not -throw
}

When "the deployment is completed we should have 1 resource group" {
  Get-AzResourceGroup -name RG-GherkinTests | Should -exists
}

Then "We should have 1 Virtual Network"{

}
And "1 Subnet"{

}
And "1 Network interface"{

}
And "1 Disk"{

}
And "1 VM"{

}
And "1 Public IP"{

}